FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Verichannel Partners With Coinapult To Bring Bitcoin To Jewelry Industry
Dillon, CO, January 16, 2014 – Verichannel, LLC announced today it had entered into an agreement with Coinapult, one of the leaders in Bitcoin payment processing, to bring a broad range of Bitcoin services to retail jewelers.
Under the terms of the relationship, Verichannel is able to offer retail stores and etailers the ability to accept Bitcoin as they would Visa or PayPal, and receive U.S. dollars directly into their bank accounts, without having to touch the Bitcoins themselves. Unlike credit cards or PayPal, Bitcoin transactions are not reversible. And through its partnering relationship with Coinapult, Verichannel is able to offer retail jewelers in the U.S. a negotiated fixed- fee of $3.00 per transaction, total. The fee is slightly higher outside the U.S.
"One of the biggest problems facing retail stores is the risk of credit card reversals," explained Verichannel CEO Jacques Voorhees. The "bias" of the card processors in favor of the consumer, while understandable, also enables too much fraud. Vendors are at risk on almost every transaction. Furthermore, with today’s ultra-thin margins, the percentage-based credit card processing fee doesn’t help."
Bitcoin technology has received considerable publicity over the last 12 months, and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in December. Overstock.com began accepting Bitcoin in January and processed 800 orders totaling $126,000 on their first day. (USAToday, 1/13/14). Guild jeweler Tivol, in Kansas City, also recently completed a Bitcoin transaction and now accepts the digital currency.
"We have been extremely impressed with the possibilities that Bitcoin brings to our industry, and are excited to provide this convenient currency option to our customers. We believe Bitcoin’s popularity will only increase with time," said Cathy Tivol, Tivol CEO.
"Competitive forces unleashed by technology have battered retail jewelers," continued Voorhees. "This is an area where retailers can use technology to their advantage, to cut costs and reduce risk. They can be ahead of the game on this one."
Under the Verichannel/Coinapult service a retailer who accepts Bitcoin has the digital currency converted into dollars automatically and deposited into the merchant’s account. "If you sell a ring for $2,000," explained Voorhees, you will receive exactly $2,000 into your bank account, minus the $3.00 fee. In this way the merchant is shielded from exchange rate volatility and never actually owns the bitcoins."
Merchants interested in adding Bitcoin processing to their MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and PayPal processing can contact Verichannel at +1 917 512 2393 or [email protected] .
About Verichannel
Verichannel builds and operates jewelry industry search engines and online catalogs. These include DailyDiamondReport, a database of diamonds recently graded by the primary gem labs; IJO Diamonds, a searchable database for jewelers sourcing from IJO suppliers; FMX, a private trading platform for Forevermark diamonds and jewelry; Worldmart*E, a B2B search engine in China that is fueled by Verichannel’s diamond feed; and Gemfling.com, the company’s consumer-facing search engine that helps buyers choose both products and stores. Verichannel was founded by Jacques Voorhees, founder of Polygon, and Bill Boyajian, past-president of GIA. Learn more at: www.verichannel.com.
About Coinapult
Coinapult offers Bitcoin merchant services, including payment processing gateways, Bitcoin wallets, and Bitcoin delivery systems. Learn more at: www.coinapult.com.
Recent Press Coverage on Bitcoin
Illustration of Bitcoin Acceptance on Merchant Check-Out Page
Bitcoin FAQ's
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is both a digital currency, and also the payment system through which the currency flows. As a currency, Bitcoin is analogous to other currencies except it is not issued by a national government. It is based on a computerized architecture that allows the supply of Bitcoins to increase only at a pre-defined rate and provides other attributes that make them useful as a medium of exchange. As a payment system, merchants can consider Bitcoin as analogous to MasterCard, Visa, or PayPal. A consumer pays in Bitcoins and the merchant receives U.S. dollars automatically into their bank account.
Who controls the Bitcoin network?
Nobody owns or controls the Bitcoin network in the same way that no one owns or controls the technology behind email or the Web. It is a technology protocol and can be used by anyone as long as the protocol is adhered to.
What are the advantages for jewelers in accepting Bitcoin payment processing?
There are several. First, transactions are not reversible, as they are with credit card processing. Second, the fee is extremely small. By partnering with Coinapult, Verichannel is able to offer retail stores a negotiated fixed fee of only $3.00 per transaction, total. (The fee is slightly higher outside the U.S.) There are no percentage fees on the transaction at all. Third, dollars are generally received more quickly than with credit card processing— typically within 24 hours. Four, customers who desire to pay in Bitcoin are actively seeking out those merchants who accept the Bitcoin form of payment. This can mean new customers.
Is the volatility of Bitcoin’s exchange-rate value a concern to merchants?
No. The merchant does not actually receive Bitcoins. They are processed into U.S. dollars by a payment processor, and the exact amount of the sale, in dollars, is received by the merchant. There is no exchange-rate risk.
How can the merchant be certain the dollars will be received?
Because the dollars are received so quickly, retail stores may choose to ship or deliver the item being purchased, after the dollars are already received into their account.
How much does the merchant need to understand about Bitcoin, before accepting it?
None, theoretically. Most merchants do not know how American Express or PayPal actually work behind the scenes. All that matters is that U.S. dollars, of the correct amount, are received by the merchant. The same is true of Bitcoin. It is simply another payment processing system, with less risk and lower costs than other alternatives.
For more information about Bitcoin in general, visit http://bitcoin.org/en/
